Naming Kuon
by silver-gossamer
Summary: A sweet and funny one-shot about the meaning behind Kuon's name and the baby-naming dilemma Kuu had on the day his son was born. This story just begged to be written after I looked up Kuu and Kuon's names in the Kanji dictionary. Enjoy.


**Naming Kuon**

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of Skip Beat ... *sobs*

Written because I couldn't help it, and because I needed a dose of happiness before I continue to write the next depressing part of my other story. Please let me know what you think^^

* * *

_LA, California_  
_Julie's room in a private hospital_  
_10 Feb_  
_12.30pm ..._

On what had to be the most beautiful and happiest day of his entire life, Kuu sat quietly by Julie's bedside waiting for her to wake as he cradled their newborn son in his arms. Making funny noises at the baby which he had carefully wrapped in a warm, white blanket, Kuu felt like his heart was about to burst from pure joy as his son gurgled back at him happily. Roused by the small disturbance, Julie slowly opened her eyes to watch the beautiful scene before her, a soft, tender smile on her face. From her partially upright position, she could just make out the crown of blonde hair sticking above the swath of white blankets in the circle of her husband's arms.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" she asked Kuu sleepily, not quite off the general anaesthetic that the obstetrician had given her for the delivery. Even in her groggy, half-awake state, she was filled with an indescribable sense of joy and excitement and couldn't wait to hold her newborn in her arms.

"Julie! You're finally awake!" Kuu exclaimed, turning towards her with their precious tiny miracle, "Here, look! It's a boy. Our beautiful son." Sitting on the edge of the bed, he carefully placed the baby into his sleepy wife's outstretched arms before leaning back to wrap an arm lovingly around her shoulders, his other hand helping to support the newborn as Julie held him.

Seeing her son for the first time, Julie smiled with tears in her eyes as she reached out to touch the baby's soft, smooth cheek, making him gurgle in delight again.

"He's beautiful Kuu," she said softly, unable to take her eyes off him, "Look, he has your eyes."

"And your beautiful hair," Kuu replied, kissing her forehead.

"Have you named him yet?"

"Hmm? No, I was waiting for you to wake so we can pick a name for him together."

"Mmm?"

Enraptured by the small, delicate form looking as if he were trying to grab hold of Julie's finger with his tiny hand, the two of them sat there in comfortable silence as they each tried to think of a name for their precious son. Ever since they had found out that Julie was pregnant, they had both wanted to keep the sex of the baby a surprise, and had decided not to name the baby until after he or she was born. While they had both gone through countless lists of possible boy and girl names together, they had yet to encounter one that they had both liked.

Feeling as if she were about to fall asleep again, Julie tilted her head to look up at Kuu.

"Honey?" she said sleepily, smiling up at him.

"What is it, love?"

"Can you hold him now? I think I only have thirty seconds left before I fall asleep again."

Chuckling at her familiar complaint modified, Kuu took the small bundle from her arms but continued to sit on the bed, snuggled close to her so that she could still see their son. "If you need to sleep, Julie, just sleep. We'll both be right here when you wake."

"But do you think you can do something for me when I'm sleeping?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think you can name our son?"

"Eh? But -"

"It's okay, hon," Putting a finger to Kuu's lips to cut off his protests, Julie rested her head against his broad chest, "I know I said before that I wanted us to name our baby together, but right now I really want you to be the one to give our son a name. Please?"

"But what if you don't like it?," Kuu asked worriedly.

"I will like it, honey. Trust me, because my husband has excellent tastes," she smiled sleepily, her eyes beginning to drift closed, "But talking about tastes... just don't call him Apple or Pie ... or name him after some kind of food. If you do that, I might just run away with him and never see or talk to you again," she giggled softly before falling asleep on him with a smile still on her face.

Moments later, Kuu panicked for at least the fifth time that day.

* * *

_Tokyo, Japan_  
_Lory's bedroom in the Takarada Mansion_  
_11 February_  
_3.20am_

With his head buried under a pillow desperately trying to block out the incessant ringing of the phone on his bedside table, Lory sleepily reached out a hand to lift up the handset before setting it down again. Two minutes later, the mobile phone by his pillow vibrated and once more Lory hung up before the other party could say a word. Another two minutes and the phone by his bedside rang again, and this time Lory let it ring on forever until he could stand the merciless onslaught no longer.

Sitting up irritably, he switched on the bed lights and waited for his tired eyes to adjust to the brightness before he glared at the ringing phone in annoyance. Seriously, what did that idiot Kuu take him for? Some kind of long-distance midwife/counselling service? Why did he have to be the one to answer ridiculous questions like, "Boss, which colour blanket should I wrap him in? the blue or the white?" or "Boss, what's the best way to fold a blanket around a baby?" or "Boss, it's really cold here, do you think three layers are enough to keep him warm?"

Dammit. Why couldn't the idiot ask one of the nurses instead of him, and why couldn't Julie be awake from the general anaesthetic already so he could finally sleep in peace? He had already sat up till gods know what time in the morning just to reassure the idiot that everything was going to be fine when Julie was in the operating room - and everything _had _been when Kuu had ecstatically announced that he was now the proud father of the most beautiful, blonde-haired, grey-eyed baby boy in the world - so surely he deserved some much-needed rest. Yes, he was very happy for Kuu and yes, he had been glad that Kuu had felt that he was an important enough friend to call to share the news, but why the hell did he have to be woken up everything half hour to deal with some minor, insignificant issue? If the happiness of fatherhood could turn an otherwise highly intelligent man into someone unreasonably stupid, that person was Kuu.

Sighing tiredly, Lory let the phone ring one more time before he picked up the handset again and wisely held it at arms length.

"BOSS! Thank goodness you finally picked up! I thought I got the wrong number! What took you so long?"

Grimacing at Kuu's panicked voice, Lory had to force himself not to hang up again. "Kuu," he said irritably, massaging his temple with one hand, "you do realise it's 3.20am in the morning in Japan right now?"

"Huh? Really? But it's just 1pm in the afternoon over here."

"IDIOT! It's called a _timezone_."

"Huh? Time zone? but boss, that's not important right now! I have an emergency!"

"You also had one an hour ago when you thought that Julie had died because she didn't come out of the operating room after 5 minutes - or as you put it '_seventy-five whole seconds_'."

"But she PROMISED me she'd be '_back in a minute_', so I counted to exactly sixty seconds except she didn't come out and I thought I counted wrong so I added another fifteen to be sure and then..."

"OKAY, _Kuu, I get it, I get it_. What's the emergency this time?" Lory asked him impatiently, not needing a second recount of what had happened. He really didn't fancy having to reassure the man that Julie was now safe and sound and was just resting while he listened to him reliving that particularly scary moment again.

Somewhat hurt at Lory's annoyed tone, Kuu muttered sulkily in the background. "I wouldn't have panicked if they let me in the operating room with her," he whined indignantly, "I really wanted to watch, but they wouldn't let me!" he cried unhappily.

"Kuu, I'm hanging up."

"WAIT, Boss! Julie's going to run away with our son and never speak to me again if I don't name him properly before she wakes. What's a good name for a boy? One that's unique and special and not food-related."

"Huh?" _That_ was the emergency?

That's it. He was seriously flying over to America tomorrow just to strangle the guy.

"Boss are you listening? What's a good name for a boy?"

"_Idiot!_ Didn't the two of you have nine whole months to figure that out? Why the hell are you asking me that now?"

"But we didn't know he was going to be a boy, and besides all the boy and girl names we looked at were all so commonplace. I know they each have a special meaning behind them but there's just so many John's and Tom's and Sam's and Dave's and ..."

"Fine. Just call him Cupid."

"HUH? _No way!_ ... That's just corny and lame. Boss, be serious!"

Chuckling at Kuu's suddenly dismayed tone on the other end, Lory felt slightly less cranky. Flopping back down onto his bed, he teased him a little. "Hey, what's wrong with Cupid? It's cute. Besides, wouldn't you say it's rather apt given there's only a few days till Valentine's" he argued, closing his eyes with a smile. Though he was feeling less annoyed now, Lory was still bone-tired.

"Boss, if it's so cute then why didn't you name your son that?" Kuu complained sceptically.

"Hmm? Who said I wouldn't have if my wife didn't protest against it?"

"..."

"Kuu, if you're having so much trouble, why don't you just name him after you?"

"But I don't like my name! It reminds me of a parking lot. Why else do you think I had a stage name when I was working for you in Japan? I want my son's name to be something deep and meaningful and eloquent ... and Julie had said before that she wanted it to be special."

Sighing tiredly at Kuu's understandable pickiness, Lory nonetheless dimmed down the lights and prepared to go back to bed. "In that case, Kuu, I really can't help you," he said, indicating he was ending their conversation there.

"Huh? But why?

"BECAUSE, you idiot, he's name will be more special if you name him yourself,"

"OOOOH, _you're absolutely right boss!_ Why didn't I think of that? Then do you think you could help me by listening to the better names I've come up which Julie might like. So far there's..."

Hanging up on him before he could even utter the first name, Lory disconnected all his phone lines and switched off his cell before he finally went back to sleep again.

* * *

Back on the other side of the North Pacific Ocean, Kuu stared at the phone in puzzlement. Just what was with Lory's faulty phone system today? Wasn't it perfectly fine just moments ago? Trying to call the man back on the landline again, Kuu got nothing but the beeping tone that indicated the phone was disconnected, and dialling his mobile, all he received was a 'sorry, the number you are trying to call is out of service or is switched off, please try again later.' Pursing his lips in disappointment, Kuu finally gave up and stepped back into Julie's room.

Checking on Julie and finding her still asleep, Kuu then went to check on their son in his hospital crib and was delightedly surprised to find him still somewhat awake. Then seeming to change his mind, his smile turned into a frown and he stared at the baby in mock unhappiness.

"Hey, why can't you talk yet?" he pouted at him over the edge of the crib, "If you knew how to talk already then you could tell daddy what name you want to be called, then daddy wouldn't be in so much trouble. Mummy's going to run away with you if I stuff this up you know... You wouldn't want that right? If that happens, daddy will be forced to chase the two of you all round the world till he gets both of you back, and that will be very exhausting ..."

Chuckling at that, he lifted the baby from the crib and cradled him in his arms again. "Okay, little man," he said with a smile, "Why don't you work this out with me?" And he paced around the room, talking aloud to his precious son, keeping his voice soft so as not to wake Julie as he asked the baby what he thought of this name or that name and pretending he was his son and replying to himself.

Eventually, lulled by the sound of his mellow voice, the baby fell asleep and Kuu was left to talk to himself. Feeling a little tired after a while, he sat back down next to Julie's bed and continued to run through lists of possible names. Deep in thought, he didn't notice the time go by till Julie woke up an hour or so later.

"Honey? ... Kuu?"

Not receiving a response even as she sat up slowly in bed, Julie smiled in amusement as she watched the rather serious expression on her husband's face as he continued to mutter softly to the baby. Obviously, he was still in the middle of choosing a good name for him, so she sat back and listened, wanting to hear the sort of ideas he was coming up with.

"... what about Frances Bean?" she heard him ask softly, "That sounds pretty nice don't you think ... wait, that has Bean in it... so it's a no. Well I suppose I could take out Bean, but Frances by itself is a bit plain wouldn't you say? ... Hmm, then what about something like Shia LaBeouf's name? It's a bit strange-sounding and unusual but that means it's rather special right? Shia Hizuri... nnm, it sounds rather girly with just Shia... what if it's Shia LaBeouf Hizuri? You think that sounds okay? ...Oh, but did you know that his full name actually means 'thank God for beef'? So that's probably a no too. But hey! it's such a foreign name Julie won't notice right? Do you think we could get away with-?"

"KUU! You are NOT naming our son 'thank God for beef' no matter how unique-sounding it is! _Now hand over the baby!_"

Suddenly freezing at the sound of his wife's rather angry voice, Kuu cringed, trying to curl himself into a small, invisible ball. "... Ooops," he whispered, "She overheard us..."

"KUU!"

"Ehehehehe. Hi Julie, you're awake!" Kuu laughed sheepishly, suddenly standing and taking a step back with the baby still cradled in his arms. He didn't like it when she was angry. She could be unreasonable and stubborn and yet still manage to look beautiful and endearing so he had never been able to win an argument against her. Right now, though, the thing he was most afraid of was that she was going to make good with her earlier threat to run away with their son.

Hurt at the way Kuu had backed away from her with the baby, Julie's eyes were suddenly filled with tears. Alarmed by her unexpectedly upset face, Kuu immediately stepped back towards her in concern.

"Julie, what's wrong?" he asked in a panic, reaching out a hand to touch her tear-streaked face. And was flabbergasted when she took the opportunity to steal the small bundle in his arms off him. Crap! He fell for it!

"Now Kuu," Julie said in a no-nonsense tone as she gave him 'the look', her tears suddenly gone as she cradled their sleeping boy away from him protectively, "I only have one minute left to live unless you name him properly."

Suddenly feeling flustered under his wife's stern gaze, Kuu stumbled over his words,"Er... well, I... "

"Thirty seconds,"

"Um, how bout... er..."

"Ten!"

"WAIT!"

"Five!"

"_Then how bout Cupid_?" Kuu blurted out in panic, and could have killed himself as he immediately did a facepalm.

"NO!" Julie glared at him, "You've been talking to that abomination to the fashion industry haven't you? Kuu, you've got three seconds."

"Uh..."

"Two!"

"WAIT!"

Crap! Usually parents named their children after what they wanted them to be or what they wanted them to have right? So what did he and Julie want for him?

"One and a half!"

"Okay, I've got it! I've got it!"

To be bright, happy, strong, healthy, kind, loving, long-lived ... he could go on forever. Wasn't there a name that could just somehow sum up everything?

"One!"

A name that was special and which, above all, would speak of the love he will always and forever have for both his beautiful wife and son?

"Zero!"

And then as if a light in his mind had been switched on, he suddenly had it.

"Kuu!" Julie made to throw off the covers and was about to get out of bed when her husband suddenly wrapped the two of them in a firm but gentle bear hug.

"How about Kuon?" he asked her seriously, his chin resting on her head of soft, wavy hair, "Kuon Hizuri?"

"Kuon?" Julie replied warily, not quite understanding despite being somewhat reassured by his serious tone. She relaxed completely, however, when she heard what he said next as he drew back and smiled at her tenderly.

"It means eternity or eternal in Japanese, Julie - just like the love we'll always have for one another," he explained.

Touched by his simple words, her tears were real this time as she smiled back up at him. "That's beautiful, Kuu," she said, tilting her head up to kiss him deeply before looking back down at the sleeping baby cradled in her arms.

"How do you like that, Kuon?" she asked their beautiful son softly. And she and Kuu both smiled as Kuon gurgled contentedly in his sleep.

END

* * *

**Notes:**

1. Tokyo, Japan is 16 hours ahead of LA, California, hence the date difference  
2. Kuu's name (庫) means storehouse/warehouse in Japanese, and is partly made up of a character that means car. Hence his reference to a parking lot ^^;;  
3. Shia is Hebrew for 'gift from God' and LaBeouf is apparently a corruption of the French term for 'the beef' or 'the ox', hence Shia LaBeouf = Praise God for beef. XD  
4. Kuon's name (久遠) means eternity or eternal in Japanese and is made up of a combination of 2 characters, the first one meaning 'long time' and the second meaning 'far'.

More on Kuon here: en[dot]wiktionary[dot]org/wiki/久遠 (replace [dot] with an actual . )


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